Amount of time for each park

[Tisha62486]

Hello everyone my family and I will be going to Disney for a week we will have a 2, 5 & 4 year old!! I was wondering how much time you spend in each park? I have heard you need 2 days for magic kingdom. I didn't know if Epcot had much for kids and also we want to do the 2 water parks how do you add them into the days? Thank you!!!

 

[IhrkeFamily]

This is a tough question as each family is different in what they like. Based on the age of your children I would definitely do two days at the Magic Kingdom. DHS I would do a day in since they have some great attractions for younger kids (Playhouse Disney, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast Stage Show, Muppets to name a few). At Epcot there a few attractions for younger kids, but I feel that kids of at least 5 years of age would enjoy more. Animal Kingdom is always a safe bet since kids love animals which you experience just walking through the park.

Hope this helps you plan a bit!

 

[Figmentmommy]

I would definitely plan for 2 days at MK and 1 day at HS. Personally I find AK to be a half day park so you could definitely do a water park on the same day. There are some fun things for children in Epcot (Spaceship Earth, Nemo & friends, Journey into Imagination) but less in World Showcase....Maelstrom in Norway is a big hit with my boys. You won't necessarily need a full day here, but it is a lot of walking so you could if you want to be more leisurely.

 

[whatisgoofy?]

Be sure to allow yourself time to head back for a nap/swim break each day. For both adults and kids, it really does make a huge difference in having a great time vs. getting hot and cranky. That will also play a role in how many days you choose per park.

 

[aubriee]

As the others said it will just depend on your family and what they like to do. When I go on a ten or eleven day trip, solo or with my husband we spend several partial days in Epcot, two half days at AK, 1 1/2 days at MK, and 1/2 day at DS. We never spend a whole day in any park. We also go over to Universal too though and may do some other offsite stuff. Plus we enjoy our resort amenities. When we took my then 3 y/o GS down there for a nine day trip, he enjoyed the pool slide at POFQ more than anything, so we made time every day for him to swim. However, we did spend three days at MK, again two half days at AK, a day at Epcot, and then two half days at DS. We wanted him to do all the character meals, so went with the DxDDP though. He seemed to really enjoy the characters, so doing one or even two character meals every day was worth if for us. They took up alot of park time, but he enjoyed them and never complained about not spending enough time in the parks. He enjoyed the playgrounds and swimming more than the rides (with the exception of the MK race cars which were his all time favorite ride of the trip).

 

[disfamof7]

It has been quite a few years since my last trip to Disneyworld but is it reasonable to spend about half a day at HS?

 

[Objectivity]

It has been quite a few years since my last trip to Disneyworld but is it reasonable to spend about half a day at HS?

Between the length of rides and shows and the line length for Toy Story Mania, a half day wold be tough, unless your choosing to skip a few.

 

[suzimar57]

for DH and myself, i'd allot 2 days each in both MK and EP

and 1 day at HS - we skip AK altogether...

since you mentioned the water parks, allot another day at each

 

[wallskm]

We have kids close to your kids' ages, and this is how we are allotting our 7 park day trip this spring: 2.5 days Magic Kingdom, 1.5 days Hollywood Studios, 1.5 days Epcot, and 1.5 days Animal Kingdom. All those half days are the last 2 days of our trip and are meant to be flexible- basically just to go back and see whatever we want. They could easily be replaced with resort/pool days or water parks. With kids that young there won't be a ton to do at the water parks so those could easily be a half day.

What we did last time with the water parks was to sleep in a little bit, then go to the water parks for 3 or 4 hours, came back and had a nap, then headed to a park for the evening. Worked well.

 

[The Hendies]

We hop, but we end up going to AK 3 days, so if I didn't hop, a full day would be in order. There are two great shows, Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo. Don't miss them, and they give a nice sit down break. Take the train out to conservation station, that consumes an hour at least! There are 2 walking trails and the Boneyard, too. Sometimes I think AK gets a bad rap!

 

[LimeCordial]

2 Days MK
1 Day AK
1 Day HS
1 Day Epcot
1 Day Water Park or Resort Touring
1 Day DTD and Pool


In any order. You can also park hop while keeping total park time the same. In my opinion of course .

 

[belle912]

I would spend 2.5 days at MK, 1.5 days EP, 1 day HS and 1 day AK at the very least. I don't know how much you will really get out of the waterparks with the kids being that young. (unless those are for you) I would think that swimming at your resort hotel pool would probably be just as exciting for the kids without all of the hassle of heading to the waterparks.

That being said... the waterparks are wonderful. lol My daughter's first visit to WDW was when she was 3 and she was in love with Epcot from the very beginning. She loved Spaceship Earth, Nemo, Imagination, Living with the Land, Mexico and Norway's rides as well as the kidcot stops around the world showcase. She is now 16 and is still just as in love with it (ok - so maybe a lot more now ) as she was when she was little. Plus, Ellen's Energy is a great place to get the kids to fall asleep since it is a really long ride.

Have a great trip!!

 

[Aunt Bee]

You didn't mention when you are going, but if your visit is during the months of May-September, spending a whole day at the parks with little ones is hot, hot, hot and tiring for everyone.

Mornings and evenings are the best times for touring the parks during those months, and you may need 3 mornings at MK with an evening thrown in for the fireworks. The same goes for the water parks. They are HOT and even if you and the kiddos stay in the water the whole time it's taxing on the body. It's hard to keep the little ones hydrated enough for a whole day. Spending a morning there and leaving before or right after lunch is better.

During the hotter months, our kids always, always enjoy the hotel pools as much as anything. Instead of mid-day rest time, we call it "pool and lunch time". They eat lunch and play in the pool and then even the older ones are ready for a rest before going back to the parks in the evening.

Have fun!

 

[MrInfinity]

Hello everyone my family and I will be going to Disney for a week we will have a 2, 5 & 4 year old!! I was wondering how much time you spend in each park? I have heard you need 2 days for magic kingdom. I didn't know if Epcot had much for kids and also we want to do the 2 water parks how do you add them into the days? Thank you!!!

2 MK. Definitely. All the rides you think of when you think Disney are here.

1 HS. Toy Story Mania is not to be missed for 4- and 5- year olds. Going on that 3 times will take most of your day, add in a few shows and you're good.

1 AK. Of course. Some recommend against it, others go multiple days. But it's definitely worth seeing! Lion King show. Some good kid rides.

1 EC. You just can't skip this park cuz Imagination w Figment is here. It is priceless for 4- and 5- year olds. It leaves such a catchy song in their head that they hum for months after the trip. You have to go into EC w the right mindset tho, don't get caught on the concrete in the heat... plan it well. get there early, hit a few rides like Soarin and Imagination, then get in the shade or get out. Then come back in the afternoon and walk around the world and try some of the food. Keep the kids eating and drinking, if you're using DDP use lots of points here. The Phineas and Ferb quests are cool for slightly older kids... ours were 5- and 9- and it was just right for them. We went a 2nd day to do more of them.

1 Water Parks - Not my thing cuz we can do water parks at home. But if you want to do them, sure pick one and give it a good day. Probly will leave it early, cuz really who can swim an entire day and not be exhausted. I wouldn't do both. Between pools at your hotel and going a day to 1, you'll probly be watered out.

 

[familyfirsttimer]

Epcot is certainly a place to spend a lot of time. Of course Kidcot where they can color and get their name written in the native language as well as talk to the Cast members, it is really priceless.

My DD4 & DD& (at the time) were coloring in Japan and the CM was making little origami frogs and started flicking them at the girls and then looking away, it was so adorable, the kids laughed and laughed and started flicking them back. He showed them how to make and gave a few to take with. really, priceless, you can't plan those kind of interactions.

Also they try on hats/outfits in almost all of the countries, play with the local toys, etc. Have a treat in several. It has been a wonderful way to expose them to cultures they know nothing about.

Lastly, the entertainment in Epcot is AWESOME! Chinese acrobats, Celtic Rock band in Canada, World Showcase players doing plays in middle of street, Japanese drummers, the list goes on and on!!!

Oh yeah, plus there are some really cool things to see in the countries, Koi pond in Japan, Train village (with hidden Mickey) outside Germany....

ok, enough, sorry. We love Epcot and spend 2 full days here! As many others said, you have to know your family. We have never done a waterpark in our 4 trips because we wanted to take all the time in the other parks....

 

[Julie521]

I am sure my touring style is very different then yours because we go with just DH and I, no kids. We did two Epcot days, two MK days, and two separate half days for AK & HS. We did one morning at AK then on a different day did an afternoon. Same with HS

 

[Tiggs14]

We are going for a week but aren't doing water parks. We're doing 3 Magic Kingdom days, 1 Hollywood Studios, 1 Animal Kingdom and a partical Epcot day. Our boys are 8 and 9 and have the most fun at Magic Kingdom and don't have much use for Epcot once they've done Test Tract a few times.

In your case I would only do one waterpark rather than doing both. Our boys prefer Blizzard Beach over Typhoon Lagoon.

1 Blizzard Beach / downtown Disney day, 2 Magic Kingdom days, 1 Hollywood Studios day, 1 Epcot and 1 Animal Kingdom